


Bribes

by thrysce



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Voldemort, Happy Father's Day?, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-19
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-11-15 21:55:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11240040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thrysce/pseuds/thrysce
Summary: Corruption is as corruption does on the Hogwarts PTA.





	Bribes

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to finish Holometabolism II before Father's Day, but it didn't happen.
> 
> So Happy Father's Day, here's a completely unrelated and irrelevant story about my two favourite fictional dads.

This meeting was a waste of time, it was long and boring and, like most of their meetings, it didn’t have a point. Why they needed upstairs approval for a decision like this was beyond him. He didn’t care one lick about whether the tables in the Great Hall at Hogwarts got new tablecloths or not. He couldn’t imagine anyone else cared either.  
  
Lucius amused himself by looking around the room and imagining the thoughts of the others. McNair was probably thinking a string of curses he wished he could throw at the speaker who wouldn’t shut up and let them move on. Lestrange was definitely daydreaming about whatever he was going to buy from Borgin and Burkes. Bones was literally counting down the minutes.  
  
As Lucius studied the other twenty-five members that made up the PTA board, he always lingered on one. James Potter. He was never able to figure out what Potter was thinking. It always looked like he was up to something or finding something very amusing. But Lucius had no idea what. It couldn’t be the speaker, because that would be a bloody miracle.  
  
Lucius sort of hated Potter. Potter was recently divorced and had been the subject of all the hot gossip in the past two months. He had been slowly but surely working his way through the members of the board, wining and dining them and then dumping them the next week. Still, no one seemed to hold it against him. Well, no one that is, except Lucius.  
  
Lucius had been estranged from Narcissa for months now and had had his eye on a few choice people, but Potter seemed to cockblock him at every turn. Lucius could be interested in someone and the next thing he knew they were with Potter. So he’d turn his interest to someone else only to learn Potter had dumped the previous person already and jumped right in the way again.  
  
Lucius could see what everyone saw in Potter. He was handsome, smart, devilishly charming. He didn’t appear to be picky about who he picked up, man, woman, older, younger. But the thing that made Lucius hate him the most, was that Potter was working his way through the members of the board but hadn’t once looked Lucius’ direction.  
  
If Potter didn’t have a specific type, why wasn't Lucius on his radar? But Lucius refused to dwell on it too much, instead choosing to hate Potter from afar. He let everyone believe he hated Potter because of the way he seemed to narrow in on anyone Lucius found the tiniest bit interesting. The truth was too embarrassing.  
  
The hellish meeting was at last adjourned and Lucius made his way out of the room to the lounge.  
  
Rudolphus Lestrange grabbed his arm, he wanted to talk about something.  
  
Lestrage rattled on about Muggle books or something in a hushed voice. Lucius wasn’t really listening. Since they weren’t technically related anymore, did Lucius still have to pretend he cared?  
  
Lucius watched as Potter walked down the hall to the exit of the building, saying some farewells to other PTA members. Lucius wondered how many of them Potter had been with.  
  
Lestrange seemed to be wrapping up whatever he’d been ranting about. “So can I count on your support?”  
  
Lucius nodded hastily, “Yes, whatever,” anything to get Rudolphus to move along already, “You know my account number.”  
  
  
Lucius was almost finished with his workday when his secretary announced he had a visitor. Lucius hadn’t been expecting anyone so he moodily asked, “Who is it?”  
  
“Um, a James Potter.”  
  
Lucius stared at the door for a moment, what on Earth would draw Potter _here_?  
  
“Um, sir?” his secretary said and Lucius realized he hadn’t said anything in reply.  
  
He cleared his throat as he shoved numerous parchments out of sight, “Yes, send him in.”  
  
Potter entered the office and quietly closed the door behind him.  
  
Lucius was staring again. He couldn’t remember James Potter ever seeking him out before. Lucius’ heart sped up in his chest.  
  
“I’m sorry to interrupt you at work,” Potter said, “There’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”  
  
Lucius stood for a moment to wave his hand at the guest chairs. Potter took a seat.  
  
“I’m sure you’ve already heard about the proposal going around to ban Muggle books from the Hogwarts library,” Potter said.  
  
Lucius tried to recall hearing that. Was that what Lestrange had gone on about? “I may have,” Lucius said.  
  
“I saw Lestrange talking to you after the PTA meeting. I wanted to make sure you heard both sides of the argument.”  
  
Lucius quelled the disappointment rolling around inside of him. Oh, is _that_ why Potter came here?  
  
Potter went on one of his Muggle Studies rants, but unlike Lestrange, Potter could hold an audience.  
  
“We have an obligation to these children,” Potter pleaded, “Their parents can’t help them, they need proper teachers, and all the opportunities that _our_ children get.”  
  
Lucius rolled his eyes, “I haven’t taken a side in the matter,” he said, though he knew very well Lestrange was most likely sending a payment to his Gringot’s account that exact moment. It was a payment that said Lucius _had_ taken a side and would vote accordingly.  
  
“Your silence only helps the powerful who will do whatever they want anyway. They’ll take your inaction as compliance. If you stay quiet, people like Rudolphus win. They _always_ do.”  
  
Lucius cleared his throat, “Still, I -”  
  
“Are you a coward or just corrupt?” Potter demanded in a tone Lucius was sure meant he viewed them as equally deplorable.  
  
“Come to your own conclusions, Potter,” Lucius said. He didn’t care whether Potter hated him back or not.  
  
“Corrupt then,” Potter decided. After a beat he said, “I can work with that.” Surprising Lucius enough that his eyebrow arched.  
  
“So what’s Lestrange paying?” Potter asked casually, as if they were discussing the purchase of jumpers instead of organizational corruption, “It can’t be money, right?” He meant that mere money wasn’t something Lucius would take as a bribe. It wasn’t like he needed it.  
  
Lucius crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’d offend your sensibilities.”  
  
Potter smirked, “What is it? Sex?”  
  
“Maybe,” Lucius said, daring Potter to press the issue.  
  
“That’d be disappointing,” Potter said.  
  
“Why? To be corrupted both professionally and morally?”  
  
Potter’s smirk widened, “I just didn’t think you’d be so easy.”  
  
Lucius’ smile faded.  
  
“Surely you don't need to _blackmail_ people into sex?” Potter asked.  
  
Lucius felt like that was both an insult and a strange sort of compliment. He disliked how he always felt Potter had the upperhand in any situation. The man could turn anything in a joke. Even in this situation where they both knew that Potter was desperate, he acted like it was _Lucius_ who needed _him_. Potter needed these votes or his entire campaign would fall apart and yet he was sitting here, completely confidant that he was going to win this.  
  
“You don’t have the _status_ to satisfy the sorts of things I accept as bribes,” Lucius said. This was true. Potter wasn’t a Ministry official, he didn’t hold any strong community power, he didn’t have a single thing to trade with… but Lucius was a raging storm of emotions. His lust and annoyance at the younger man warred. Lucius wanted to see him flinch, wanted to see him _act_ as desperate as they both knew he was, “I suppose, with you being so desperate for my help, I could offer you a discount,” Lucius said.  
  
Potter eyed him warily. And Lucius leaned back in his chair again. This time, he moved his hand to the front of his trousers and fiddled with the zipper there. Potter’ eyes widened. “A blowjob?”  
  
“If it’s too high a price, you’re free to walk away,” Lucius had an idea of how this would go. Potter would act disgusted and leave in a huff. He’d run to the Minister like a good citizen and Lucius would pull the right strings to not lose his job. He was already hard imagining that it would all be worth it to see the look on Potter’s face…  
  
But the look Lucius had imagined wasn’t there. Instead there was a feral grin, like Lucius had just made a fatal error. Then Potter was walking around the desk one second and on his knees the next. He batted Lucius’ hand away and undid Lucius’ trousers himself. He was infuriatingly casual about sticking his hand into a near stranger’s pants. He pulled Lucius’ cock from his pants and looked up at him, “I need two thirds of the votes,” he said.  
  
Lucius couldn’t do anything but nod. He swallowed heavily, hardly believing this was happening. He couldn’t wait to see Potter’s lips, so often curled up in that arrogant sexy smirk, wrapped around his cock instead.  
  
Lucius nearly gasped when Potter swallowed him whole, making it clear that this wasn’t the first time he had done this. Lucius wondered what that meant. Maybe _that_ was why Potter’s wife was suddenly missing from the picture. Lucius let out a low groan as Potter’s tongue swirled around him. Lucius’ hands moved to Potter’s hair where he made a point in making it even more messy than it already was.  
  
Potter didn’t protest when Lucius moved his hips, needing to go deeper, faster. Potter accommodated him, more evidence that James Potter wasn’t the boring goody-two-shoes Lucius had always thought he was. Lucius let his head roll back as the sensations overwhelmed him. He moaned as the slick noises made him harder still.  
  
When he was getting close, he pushed Potter off. He wanted to come all over his smug face. He tried not to make any more noise as he came on Potter’s swollen lips and dark-rimmed glasses. Lucius wanted to come again at the way Potter wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.  
  
Lucius’ breathing returned to normal and he tucked himself in as Potter took off his glasses and tapped them with his wand to clean them.  
  
“So we have a deal,” Potter said, once again surprisingly casual about this whole event.  
  
Lucius was struggling. Rudolphus was going to be beyond pissed and Lucius wasn’t going to be able to tell him that he’d been out-bid because James Potter was apparently a pro at cock-sucking. But he was just going to have to deal with it. “Yes we have a deal.”  
  
Potter was posed to leave, but Lucius managed to stammer out, “I need 700 galleons.”  
  
Potter glared at him, “That wasn’t the deal. You said you’d take care of this.”  
  
“And I _am_. I just need 700 galleons.”  
  
“And what, you can’t afford that?”  
  
“I don’t have that kind of money just sitting around. Not anywhere that’s not going to look suspicious if it’s suddenly missing.”  
  
Potter groaned.  
  
It was Lucius’ turn to glare, didn’t Potter have any idea what goes into the art of bribery? “If we don’t keep the voters happy, they find other people who _will_ keep them happy. Most probably Lestrange, who _does_ have disposable income like that laying around.”  
  
Potter sighed, “Fine,” he looked around him like he was nervous someone was listening. He lowered his voice, “I’ll get you the money. Expect a transfer from a Q.S.”  
  
With those words as parting, Potter left. Lucius let himself linger a while in the state he was in before turning back to his work.  
  
He cheerfully penned a letter to Lestrange explaining that Lucius was no longer able to help him out. He didn’t include any details.  
  
He hummed to himself as he watched his owl disappear into the clouds. He was already thinking ahead to the next PTA meeting and what other proposals Potter might need his help with.


End file.
